


The livestreamer's manual

by himarisu



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff and Humor, Livestreaming, M/M, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-27
Updated: 2018-06-27
Packaged: 2019-05-29 04:58:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15065654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/himarisu/pseuds/himarisu
Summary: Jihoon tries not to concern himself too much with his viewers, but it doesn't work quite as well when one of them knows who he is.





	The livestreamer's manual

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [봇노잼](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMKn6ul1eu4iJ5bZytArywg)
> 
> Thank you to best girl [aurics](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aurics) for your continuous support ♥♥

Flattering camera angle, check.

Economics textbook, check.

Aesthetic art boy glasses, check.

No matter how many times he's gone through this routine, Jihoon never fails to see his hand tremble as he presses the _Start Streaming_ button on his screen.

 

 

 

 

 

Livestreaming himself at his cluttered desk while he studies for 6 hours straight was supposed to have been a one-time event—a dare he was challenged to by Woojin and Daehwi because they wanted to know if Jihoon could face two of his biggest fears at the same time: being watched by people, and studying.

If Jihoon were to be completely honest, it was really hard for the first few half-hours. He could only see blobs of meaningless characters strung together because his attention always shifted to the camera lens in the corner of his eye and his mind always wandered to the people viewing his stream, if there were any. But as time passed by, he stopped caring about his surroundings and started forgetting he was even exposing his identity online even though he had been so averse to the idea in the beginning.

Although there are times when streaming is akin to suffering, he wouldn't have gone so far with his streams if there weren't any benefits to doing them. For one, he can actually get some studying done (albeit being technically peer pressured into it), and for another, he earns a decent amount of money from having several thousand viewers watch him on an every-other-day basis.

When his streams really started to kick off, Daehwi told Jihoon that he should be thankful he was born with a pretty face because 'the world is a horrible place where good-looking people will be successful no matter what they do'. And yet despite the cynicism, he still decided to support his housemate's newfound hobby along with Woojin by helping out with modding the comment section, but not before he demanded that they receive a certain percentage of the money Jihoon earns from it.

Jihoon never reads the comments people write on his stream anyway because there's no need to: his housemates are always keen on giving updates on what they say about him. Predictably, they're mostly lofty praises about Jihoon's good looks, the most amusing ones being exaggerated expressions of surprise whenever he so much moves or blinks. He can't deny that it boosts his ego when Woojin and Daehwi talk about them, and it doesn't help that they outright refuse to mention any of the negative comments he undoubtedly gets either.

"Shut up. You're a source of income. We need to keep you happy," is what Woojin says when Jihoon finally decides to point this out to the two.

"What... I can't get any better as a content creator if I don't take any criticism into consideration."

Daehwi lets out a snort and a spray of spit mixed with broth lands on the table. "Content creator my butt. You literally sit there and do nothing!"

"I _study_ ," Jihoon retorts weakly, swirling the ramen noodles around in his bowl. "Is this what I am to you two? A cash cow?"

He takes their cruel silence as an affirmation of his question.

"Aaanyway, can we finally get with our Housemates Association Meeting now?" Daehwi waits for them to nod in agreement before he announces, "Cool. Well to start things off, our—or rather, _Mr JeojangMan_ over here's viewership has increased by about a few hundred over the past week. Woojin and I think it's because of the glasses."

"Seriously?"

"Human beings are simple, Jihoon."

"How scary. Next thing I know you guys are going to make me cosp—"

"Guys, please. Can we not do this today?"

Woojin and Jihoon mutter quiet _sorry_ 's under their breaths before they return to their bowls.

"As I was saying, more people are watching Jihoon study for god knows why. Of course this means hate comments have increased too, but they don't really matter since Woojin and I deal with them."

"Dream team right here," Woojin puffs his chest out proudly despite the fact that none of them will forget the semester they all decided to take an elective together and completely bombed the group assignment worth half the course.

Daehwi ignores his comment this time. "Positive comments are same old, same old, but there was _one_ comment that stood out to me..."

He hands them his phone, and on it is a screenshot of a comment from his stream, perfectly aligned in the centre of the screen.

 

 ** _realdefdanik:_** _wtf you're way prettier in real life_

 

"Isn't this comment the same as all the other ones complimenting his annoying face?"

"Fuck y—"

"No, it's not," interrupts Daehwi, snatching the phone from Jihoon's hand before he accidentally drops it into his bowl. "Don't you get it? They said _in real life_ , which means people are finally starting to recognise our boy offline!"

The sound of Woojin slurping on his soup fills the space between them for a few moments as Jihoon processes the implications of what the youngest of them is saying. People recognising him? In real life? Actual living, breathing people?

"Alright, that's it. I'm quitting this live streaming business," and then he folds his arms firmly over his chest in preparation for the protests.

"What? Jihoon, why? This was bound to happen anyway and you knew that!" Daehwi wails, followed by indecipherable noises of agreement from Woojin.

"I know, but—"

"I'm pretty sure this person isn't the only one who's seen you and knows who you are either."

Jihoon sighs, loosening the grip on his arms he didn't realise he was holding on so tightly to. When Daehwi becomes stubborn like this, he knows anything he says won't get through to his head. "You're right, but there's a difference between knowing that it'll happen and it _actually_ happening."

"Come on, man. What does one person matter? You'll get used to it, just like how you got used to streaming."

"Yeah!" Daehwi nods frantically before he can get another word in. "Think of him the same way you would think of me and Woojin. I mean, we know you stream but you're totally fine with it!"

"That's because you guys are my _friends_ ," though that statement is definitely questionable under circumstances where money is involved. "This _realdefinitely_ person _isn't_."

" _Realdefdanik_."

"Woojin shut the f—"

"Then how about this," Daehwi cuts in and extends an arm between the two of them before they can get into another one of their slap fights. "Woojin and I will find out who this _realdefdanik_ person is and then you guys can be friends! Then you won't have to worry about unfamiliar people recognising you because now they'll be familiar to you!"

"That sounds like a terrible idea."

"That sounds like a terrific idea!" Woojin exclaims sarcastically, grabbing Jihoon's shoulder in a threatening side-hug. "Now can we finally end this meeting and eat our ramen in peace?"

 

 

 

 

 

It doesn't take long for Daehwi to find out who _realdefdanik_ exactly is. All he has to do is paste the username into Instagram's search bar and everything they want to know presents itself in the form of a flashy feed of cats, selfies, and (presumably) rowdy friends.

A frequent topic this Daniel person talks about in his captions is his part-time job as a barista at the coffee shop Daehwi frequents—which is also most likely where he's seen Jihoon the few times his housemate called him over to hang out.

And now Jihoon is standing in the queue of the same cafe, waiting in line to order a drink after being persuaded by the younger to, as well as becoming friends with the cat-lover, 'meet one of his viewers to understand the meaningful impact his streams have on real people!'. Not that he endorses any of that bullshit; he's merely curious about the kind of people who follow his streams.

Squinting at the menu plastered high above his head, Jihoon cringes at the prices of the drinks and pastries and wonders how Daehwi can even afford to be a regular at this store when he's on a student budget. He might get him to pay for the drink in exchange for whatever the hell he's doing right now.

"Hi, what can I get you?" a cheery voice sounds.

An equally cheery face greets him behind the register when he steps up to the front of the queue, and a quick flicker of his eyes to the nametag and the beauty mark under the cashier's right eye confirms that it is indeed Daniel he's talking to. Jihoon surveys him a bit, inwardly acknowledging the handsome features and body proportions Daehwi had pointed out while they were scrolling through his feed together the other day.

It's not until Daniel gives a confused cock of his head that Jihoon realises he's staring for too long.

"Hi, um," Jihoon says quickly, feeling his cheeks get warm. He actually hasn't decided what to get yet because only the numbers were being processed in his mind so he chooses the first thing his eyes land on when he looks up again. "Can I get a strawberry frappe, please?"

"Of course!" Daniel replies enthusiastically, tapping in his order on the monitor and grabbing a cup from the side in one swift motion. "Can I have your name?"

"S-sorry?"

"Your name?" Daniel shakes the cup in his hand, letting out a soft laugh that the younger would have considered as condescending if not for the honest smile. "It's for your drink."

"Oh. Right." Guess who needs to fix his habit of jumping to conclusions before thinking things through? "It's Jihoon."

 

 

 

"How did it go?" asks Daehwi as soon as his housemate takes the seat facing away from the register. "Did he say anything about your streams?"

"No," Jihoon says plainly, taking the cap off his drink. He scoops up a sliver of the whipped cream with his straw and feels the refreshing sweetness go down his throat.

"Disappointed, are we?"

"Hardly."

"It's okay. I'm sure you guys will be good friends in due time."

"I still don't understand how you think anything will change if I become friends with him." Jihoon places a hand on his cheek, staring at his determined housemate in challenge. "What if I find out about _more_ people from real life who watch my streams? Are you going to scout _all_ of them out and have me get to know _all_ of them personally?"

"Of course not," Daehwi responds like it's a dumb question. "Once you understand your viewers are regular people like you, you'll learn to relax about them recognising you. That's why we need Daniel, our special test subject, to help you realise that."

Jihoon chews on his straw resignedly, trying not to think about how Daehwi is blatantly using Daniel for his human experiments that are definitely borderline unethical considering the fact that he hasn't gotten any informed consent from him. But there's no sign of remorse on Daehwi's face regarding this—only an ominous twinkle in his eyes as they focus on something behind him.

"Please forgive me for what I'm about to do."

"Huh? What—" But before he can finish his sentence, Daehwi swings a hand out towards his frappe—

—and spills it all over the front of Jihoon's crew neck.

He pauses there for a few moments, thick pink liquid dripping over the table and onto himself and all that, as he takes his time to process what exactly is happening while the culprit hurriedly asks the staff with the mop nearby to help them clear up the mess. Profuse apologies are given to the staff after his request, but for some odd reason, not to the victim of the intentional attack.

"Lee Daehwi, I will kill you."

Even though he chooses to ignore him, Daehwi should know Jihoon well enough by now to realise he isn't joking. And yet he still goes ahead to tap on the shoulder of the man busy mopping up the spill on the floor, and asks, "Sorry, could one of your staff members show my friend to the restroom too?"

The mopper nods, and raises his voice towards the front of the cafe, "Daniel! Get over here!"

 

 

 

"What kind of a coffee shop doesn't have a public restroom for its customers," mutters Jihoon as he steps out of the toilet with his abdomen feeling uncomfortable under his damp, spoiled top.

"Apparently, ours," a voice provides to his side. Jihoon flinches at the sound, now feeling shameful for having shit-talked the cafe despite the employees' kind hospitality.

He turns his head to see Daniel leaning against the wall, staring at the large splotches of bright pink on his clothes that he’s been unable to get rid of. "Just wanted to make sure you were doing alright. You looked like you were going to explode back there."

"Yeah, I'm sure you would too if it was done on purpose."

"On purpose?"

As he averts his gaze, Jihoon figures it isn't exactly a story he wants to share with anyone. "No, it's nothing." Is this how Daehwi thinks he can get closer to Daniel? Bonding over spilt drinks in front of toilets? "Sorry for taking up your time, by the way. I'm fine."

"Don't worry about it," Daniel says with a wave of his hand. "Like I said, I wanted to make sure you were okay. Plus you're actually helping me slack off at work, so really, it's no big deal."

Jihoon hums, unsure of what to say in response.

"You said your name was Jihoon, right? Pretty sure you're not especially fond of strawberries right now, but maybe you can come back again and I'll whip you up another frappe?"

"Huh?" Blinking dumbfoundedly at the abrupt proposal, he stammers, "Listen, that'd be great, but, uh..."

"Sorry, was that a bit too forward of me?" Daniel laughs lightly, eyes crinkling into small crescents. "It's totally cool, you don't have to—"

"N-no, that's not it. It's just... the prices..."

This time Daniel doesn't try to hold back his laughter.

"Please stop; I really don't get how my being broke is so funny." But surprisingly, Jihoon doesn't feel all that offended: there's something about Daniel's candidness that makes him overlook the lack of his consideration.

"I don't mean to make fun of you, really!" Daniel says as he wipes a few tears and chuckles a little more. "It was more like... a laugh of relief. You know, like a sigh of relief, but a laugh instead of a sigh."

The only thought Jihoon has in his head right now is how strange this person in front of him is.

"You don't have to pay. It's my treat."

Jihoon raises an eyebrow in mistrust. "I don't get why you'd pay for it when you weren't the one who spilt it."

"I'm paying for it because I want to," Daniel reasons, but now there's a hint of hesitation in his voice. When the younger still looks unconvinced, he continues, "Because you're interesting. And you're a lot different than I thought you'd be."

Jihoon considers the last few words he says, wondering if he's referring to the chic persona he puts on in front of the camera in his streams or if his judgment is purely based on the encounter they're having right now. "If it's free, I'll take it."

"Great!" replies Daniel. He's fairly sure he catches a sigh of relief coming out of him this time around. "Also, I can lend you a shirt if you want—you'll catch a cold in that."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be? The only thing is," he says as he does a good look-over at Jihoon's figure, "my shirt might be a bit big on you if you don't mind?"

Jihoon chews on his lip. The offer is tempting when there are goosebumps all over the front side of his body, but lending him his things on top of wanting to buy him a drink on their first meeting? It sounds a lot like Daniel is trying to stack up his brownie points with him, but it might also just be his idea of excellent customer service.

Plus, this will give Jihoon an excuse to see him again if he decides he still wants to go with his housemates' plan to become friends with the guy.

"I don't mind."

Daniel's face lights up in an instant and he practically bounces off the wall. "Okay! I'll get you something to put your clothes in too; be right back!"

Without waiting for a reply, he takes off towards the staff room with an upbeat skip in his steps, which doesn't go by unnoticed by Jihoon.

 

 

 

 

 

"Frozen dinner, frozen dinner, frozen dinner."

Jihoon bites his tongue to stop himself from cursing as he navigates their cart to the frozen food aisle upon Woojin's instruction. The latter should have never been put on shopping list duty knowing how loud he is, but then again he'd be useless with the cart anyway because he can never remember where anything is placed despite being an devoted patron of the grocery store.

The two of them take their time perusing through the racks of microwavable meals, smacking the glass doors shut every so often when they get too cold. Once they accumulate an acceptable amount of frozen meals to last them the next few weeks, they take off towards the next item in their shopping list, and Jihoon can already tell what's coming.

"Chicken meat, chicken meat, chicken meat."

"I heard you the first time you said it."

"I know, but I need to get rid of my energy somehow." Woojin jumps up and down beside Jihoon, scanning the list they're halfway done with. "I can't believe Daehwi is making us get all this. How does he even find the time to cook?"

Jihoon shrugs as he suddenly swerves the cart to his right, causing Woojin to let out a strangled yelp when the metal edge digs into his ribs.

"Are you two still not on talking terms? I can't really tell since you're always holed up in your room with your computer. I mean, I know you have no social life, but still..."

"Shut it, Woojin." Jihoon slaps the back of his head in good nature despite what the customers at the meat section are thinking. "We'll get over it sooner or later, I just need time to cool off."

Grabbing the cheapest packaged chicken he can get and dumping it into their cart, Woojin gives him a look that says he isn't pleased with his answer.

"Speaking of Kang Daniel..."

"We weren't even talking about him."

"Well, now we are!" Woojin flashes a grin at him, and this time Jihoon can't help but release a small laugh at how weird his housemate can get.

"I've been going through your channel's analytics and I have some new information about our resident JeojangMan fan. If you're interested, of course."

"Go on..."

"Now that's what I'm talking about." He points at the next item in their grocery list to save his breath and continues, "Turns out he started going to your stream a few days after you opened your channel and has been a regular viewer since, though I can't tell how long he stays each time because of privacy policies and shit.

"So I decided to check out his Instagram posts from around that time because I had a hunch, and oh my god, I'm a genius."

Woojin stops in the middle of the aisle they're currently walking through, closing his eyes and raising his head to the ceiling in self-pride. Jihoon waits for him to be done with his narcissistic moment, which happens quickly enough when a child half his height shoves him aside.

"He posted a photo asking his followers for show recommendations, and I kid you not, I scrolled through all the few hundred comments recommending lame TV shows people willingly watch these days until I found the golden comment."

"A link to my stream," Jihoon finishes for him, mildly awed by the story. "Still doesn't explain why he sticks around though. Who sent the comment?"

"Bae Jinyoung."

Jihoon stares at him. " _That_ Jinyoung?"

"Yeah," Woojin says as he grabs a carton of milk from the shelves. "I'm pretty sure Daehwi was the one who sent him the link and told him to spread it because we had to get initial exposure for you and all."

"I know," Jihoon says, "I'm just surprised he knows Daniel."

"Speaking of Kang Daniel again..."

Swivelling his head around to see what Woojin is fixated on, Jihoon freezes in his spot just as immediately when he catches their topic of conversation picking up a pack of greek yoghurt right next to them.

Before Jihoon can take a step away from the older and out of there, Daniel looks up from his shopping basket and makes perfect eye contact with him.

"Oh? Jihoon!" he calls out, waving his hand enthusiastically as he approaches the two. "Fancy seeing you here. Doing your groceries too, huh?"

Jihoon gives him a smile, noticing the way Daniel shifts his gaze curiously at Woojin as if he was expecting him to introduce them to each other. He really hates being the middleman in this kind of situation.

"Woojin, this is Daniel. Daniel, this is Woojin. We're, um..."

"We live together."

Daniel's facial expression slightly falters which has Jihoon quickly trying to correct Woojin's unintended insinuation. "As _housemates_. Along with Daehwi, the one I was in the cafe with."

Woojin leans into Jihoon's ear from behind him and whispers with an undeniable dose of glee in his voice, "I see how it is, Jihoon. You don't want him to misunderstand our relationship."

Jihoon elbows Woojin square in the stomach and mentally pats himself on the back when he hears a pained grunt and a subsequent metal clang, presumably from him crashing into their cart.

"Is that so," Daniel says with a worried look on his face after the show of violence. He turns his attention to back Jihoon once he makes sure a fight isn't about to break out between them. "You still haven't come by, by the way."

"Ah," Jihoon stalls, subconsciously averting his gaze because of the disappointed tone in his voice. "I've been busy lately because of classes and shit. I can ask Daehwi to give you your shirt back since he goes to the cafe often."

"Or you can come by our place now and pick it up," Woojin butts in, peeking out from behind Jihoon's shoulder.

The latter stares at him in horror, wondering how his idiotic brain could ever think that that was a reasonable offer to provide to someone he barely knows. He would have normally left it up to having different standards of shame in the first place, but then he remembers Woojin's (and Daehwi's) hidden agenda.

"It's fine, it's fine. I have a shift right after this, and it's not urgent or anything, I can take it back whenever." Daniel gives him a troubled smile as he rubs the back of his neck. "I still have to get the rest of my groceries too, so. I'll see you two around."

Daniel scurries off away from them then, his basket swinging with a little less energy than when he first approached them a few minutes ago.

"Wow, Jihoon. Wow. You practically shot him down, the poor guy."

"You're exaggerating."

"Not really. You can't tell me you didn't see the way Kang Daniel's expression dropped to the _floor_ when you made that face after I told him he could come over." Woojin taps his chin in fake contemplation, then snorts. "Oh wait, you _didn't_ because you were too busy glaring at me."

Jihoon groans out loud, no longer caring about how he's behaving in public. "Shut up. Stop. Stop it. Stop making me feel bad about it!"

"Man, your fan just wants to have a friendly conversation with you, just wants you to visit his workplace and give you a drink _he_ personally made, and yet his favourite streamer makes it painfully obvious that he's uncomfortable with him, making him think, 'oh no, does he... does he perhaps not... like me...?' and now he's going to go to work and shed tears while taking people's orders which will get him fired and then—"

 

 

 

 

 

Needless to say, Woojin's incessant rambling throughout the rest of their grocery trip about how (quote, unquote) heartbroken Daniel must be ends up getting into Jihoon's head.

That's the reason why he's standing outside of the coffee shop with one hand holding a carrier bag with Daniel's washed shirt in it and the other fisting the hem of his hoodie. The older had mentioned he had a shift when they met at the grocery store, but that was when the sun was still shining high above them: the midnight blue he sees right now might mean his shift has already finished.

But the deep-seated guilt in his bones thanks to his housemate also means Jihoon won't be able to sleep if he doesn't do anything about it as soon as possible.

Jihoon hears a jingle as he pushes the glass door open, and immediately notices that there's only one person at the counter and that it isn't Daniel. There's no way he's going to leave without having done anything after all the effort it took for him to come here, so he walks up to the register with a pretence of confidence in hopes that the cashier, whose name badge reads _Seongwoo_ , doesn't see through it.

"Hello! What can I get you?" he asks, a kind smile gracing his handsome features.

"Hi, I'm not exactly here to buy anything..." Jihoon instantly starts fidgeting with the bag in his hands, his facade crumbling once he feels the shame. "I was just wondering if Daniel is still around?"

"D-Daniel?" Seongwoo stutters, eyes widening. His smile slightly slips as well but he puts his customer-friendly mask back on an instant later and continues without a pause. "Sure, give me a sec."

Once he disappears behind the olive green curtain leading to the staff room, Jihoon collapses onto the counter out of exhaustion. The cafe is mostly empty, save for a couple being especially affectionate on the table right in front of the register—how could Seongwoo even stand being alone with people like them? He now feels grateful for his own job where he only has finance textbooks to read and a few thousand people watching him.

Actually, maybe not.

The cashier emerges from the back long after a 'sec', and yet there still isn't any Daniel in sight even though Jihoon had already rehearsed a bunch of casual greetings to say in his head.

Reading the confusion on his face, Seongwoo, who Jihoon now remembers was the one mopping his strawberry frappe mess, gives him the same kind smile he gave him when he first walked in. "He said he's going to take a while, so feel free to take a seat in the meantime."

Jihoon nods and shuffles to the table furthest away from the couple, feeling like he's walked into a doctor's appointment with the way he's been waitlisted. He guesses Daniel isn't arriving any time soon going by what Seongwoo said, so he relaxes a little. With every minute he spends sitting absentmindedly in the cafe waiting for him the instilled guilt instilled seeps away too, which would be a good thing if it wasn't replaced with impatience instead.

The way the wall plants sway underneath the air conditioner is the most interesting sight to Jihoon when the door swings open with an impact that jolts everyone's attention to the source of disturbance: it turns out to be in the form of a panting male with his black sweatpants dragged all the way up to his knees and his long-sleeved shirt clinging to his back. The man raises his head after a few coughs and scans the space before he spots Jihoon. His eyes crinkle into familiar crescents.

"Hey," Daniel pants as he drags a chair out and plops himself on it. "Sorry I took so long; the next bus was in twenty minutes so I had to run here."

"You ran here," Jihoon repeats, dumbfounded. It mustn't have been an easy run either because he is quite literally drenched in sweat, and he's pretty sure Daniel isn't unfit judging from his body.

"I did. I thought I'd have more stamina than this since I go to the gym often but, well, I guess running isn't my forte," he shrugs, wiping the sheen on his forehead off with his sleeve, "and I didn't know when you'd come back to visit, so."

"Here," Jihoon says as he ignores Daniel's last comment and finally hands over the bag to him. It's like a huge weight lifts off his back once he lets go of the handle, so he can't help but release an exhale quiet enough so that Daniel doesn't notice. "If I'd known the shirt was so precious to you I'd have come earlier."

"Hmm, it's not so much the shirt though? It's more like I wanted to make you a drink."

Jihoon is slightly taken aback, but tries not to let it show. "I thought we were in a coffee shop, not a bar. But sure, I'll take you up on your offer."

Daniel chuckles at Jihoon's lame joke as he gets up from his seat, rolling his sleeves up to his forearms. "You look like you have zero tolerance for alcohol, so that wouldn't be any fun. Do you still want that strawberry frappe again?"

Shivers run down Jihoon's back when the cold, sweet drink that his torso tasted more than his tongue did comes to mind. "No thanks, anything else would be fine."

Daniel nods in understanding and goes to the counter, greeting Seongwoo with a casual high five. They engage in banter as he whips the drink up for the younger, and it's hard to hear from where he's sitting but Jihoon is fairly sure they're talking about _him_ because of all the small glances they keep giving in his direction. Jihoon tries to ignore it, yet he can't help but feel the heat rising to his ears from being under scrutiny by the baristas.

The older comes back soon enough with a grin on his face and a drink that has Jihoon forgetting about the matter and salivating upon sight: its contents are a dreamy mix of sparkly pink, orange, and white, topped with a dollop of whipped cream that glitters under the light.

"Peaches and Cream," announces Daniel. "Our best-seller, and also _my_ speciality."

Jihoon is unconvinced. He starts to sip on the drink and pauses straight away once the liquid hits his taste buds because holy shit—it actually does taste really good, and he immediately knows he'd come back to the cafe just to get this. He thought it'd be disgustingly sweet when he heard the name, but there's also something citrusy in there that refreshes his palate and makes it addictive.

"Do you like it?"

Realising that he's been sipping nonstop since he got the drink, Jihoon slightly hacks because of the interruption and wipes his lips with the back of his hand. "It's delicious," he replies, eyes sparkling at the concoction. His gaze strays to the side when some movement catches his eye and then he instantly feels like gagging. "Though I'm quickly losing stomach because of the couple over there."

"Let's go out for a walk, then," suggests Daniel, a smile tugging at his lips. "You know, so you can drink in peace. Plus, the weather's nice."

The weather being nice isn't a very persuasive argument, but Jihoon pretends to be won over by it and they get up from their seats. Apart from the couple, Seongwoo has been staring at them—or rather, him—intently ever since Daniel ran in, and Jihoon was getting self-conscious about it.

It doesn't help that the tone Seongwoo uses when they walk out the door and he calls out an innocent, "Have fun you two!" has a certain ring to it.

 

 

 

They walk along the street nearby that has more rows of indie cafes and shops, all almost empty because of how late it already is.

Thankfully, Daniel takes the liberty of grabbing hold of the conversation by sharing anecdotes on being a barista and of his university life, his interesting stories going hand in hand with his vivid expressions and dramatic body movements.

However, despite sharing a lot about his daily life—from an incident with a customer who threatened to sue him for not swirling the whipped cream the way she wanted it, to the one time he accidentally called his professor 'mom' in front of everyone in the lecture hall—Daniel still doesn't indicate _anything_ about knowing about his streams. It's starting to make Jihoon doubt that he's the _realdefdanik_ on his channel and he hasn't made a wrong assumption.

"So what do you actually study?" asks Jihoon. He's unsure of where to start with his coercion so he goes with the typical small talk all students make on when they're first meeting someone.

Daniel bumps his shoulder with Jihoon's as he challenges, "Guess!"

"I don't know." He blurts out the first thing that comes to mind, "English literature?"

"Hmm... interesting. Why?"

"Because your name is Daniel?"

"That's..." Daniel runs a palm across his face. "That's terrible."

"Like you can do any better. Why don't you try guessing mine then?" Jihoon retorts as he tosses his empty cup into a nearby bin.

"Easy," Daniel claims, placing his hands on his hips haughtily. "You're in the financial economics program."

Feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, Jihoon starts, "How did you know—"

—and then stops dead in his tracks. What is he talking about? Of course Daniel should know: Jihoon keeps all his economics textbooks in the shelf beside his desk which happens to be in his camera's line of sight—it wouldn't be that hard for anyone who watches his streams to figure out what he studies.

That can only mean that Daniel _is realdefdanik_ unless he guessed his major right in the first go by pure luck. Jihoon seriously doubts that, though, because no one who sees the clothes he wears would ever associate him with the words 'economics major'.

Yet here Daniel is, looking incredibly proud about having 'guessed' it right.

"How did you know?" repeats Jihoon, more composed this time around.

Daniel contemplates for a bit. "It's a secret. Are you impressed?"

"No," Jihoon replies honestly. Well, at least Daniel didn't lie and indulge him in some bullshit reason he pulled out of his ass—which, in fact, he was kind of expecting him to do since the older has been keen on getting on his good side. "But most people think I'm lying when I say I'm an econ major because of my terrible fashion sense."

After giving Jihoon's current outfit—an amalgam of different colours and patterns in the strangest combination—a good look up and down, Daniel makes a face.

"I feel betrayed," Jihoon huffs out. He strikes the older a dirty look to emphasise his point but Daniel laughs in response like he always does to everything he says or does.

"I mean, that just proves everyone is born equal," continues Daniel. "You may wear the worst outfits I've ever seen in my life, but you're also the second most beautiful person I've ever seen in my life."

The first thing Jihoon thinks of after he's done processing Daniel's blunt words is the comment he sent a while ago that tells a similar story about his thoughts on the younger's looks, and it's the two compliments combined that ultimately makes Jihoon blush in embarrassment.

"Thank you," Jihoon mumbles, looking down to hide the slight redness on his face. "Who's the first though?"

"My mother," Daniel grins at him. "Sorry, but you can't compete with her."

Jihoon laughs out loud, releasing the energy he didn't realise bubbled up within him during their late night walk.

Somehow, he finds himself opening up to the older as he starts to talk about his own life: how he's bad at replying to people's messages on time, how he can never remember people's faces even if he's seen them multiple times already, and how he initially wanted to do theatre but was forced to take economics instead because his parents didn't think it was a practical major.

With each new story he shares with the older, Jihoon watches the space between them grows smaller and smaller until their shoulders are touching and the back of their hands graze occasionally. He knows Daniel notices it too with the way he slightly flinches whenever Jihoon's hand unintentionally brushes against his.

But both of them ignore it and instead enjoy the relaxing mood that has settled between them on a night when the stars appear brighter than usual. Their impromptu stroll only comes to an end when Jihoon mentions the 9am he has the next day and they start walking towards his house.

"I swear to god my house is in the same direction as yours," Daniel clarifies when they reach his front porch. "I just have to go down that street for a bit and then turn left and then—"

"Sure, whatever," replies Jihoon, grinning, with a wave of his hand. "Thanks for the drink, and for tonight. It was fun."

Daniel beams at him. "I had fun too."

There seems to be something else the older wants to say because of the expectant look in his eyes, but he keeps his lips pursed and instead opens his arms out, peering down at Jihoon as the moon illuminates their figures in a quiet glow.

Jihoon mirrors his movement subconsciously and before he knows it, Daniel is enveloping him in a tight hug that he all but melts into, the comfort and warmth coming from the intimacy having him flutter his eyelids to a close as he breathes in the older's scent.

It's brief, but it tells him everything he didn't realise he wanted to know.

When Jihoon peers up at him as he lets go, he notices that the sunny smile he's had the entire night is now gone and replaced with obvious bashfulness. He even raises a hand to cover his face as he says, "Good night, Jihoon."

"Good night, Daniel."

They wave each other a goodbye and Jihoon disappears into his home, promptly releasing a content sigh as soon as he shuts the door behind him.

It's only a few moments later that he hears a muffled cheer coming out of a certain barista right outside the door.

 

 

 

 

 

No matter how hard he tries to understand moral hazard and adverse selection, Jihoon can't seem to go on to the next sentence without reading the same one over and over again. Days like these aren't unusual, but they only ever occur outside of Jihoon's streaming hours when he knows he can't study for six hours straight.

Today is an exception though: his camera is on and he thought he'd be in the mood for his readings but he doesn't even know if he can go on for another thirty minutes, let alone five more hours. Unfortunately, Jihoon has explicitly stated on the stream's title that he'd be going for six hours, and he is one to keep his promises even if he's the one suffering in the end. So he sucks it up and slaps his cheeks.

Before he can go back to his textbook he hears a soft knock on his door, followed by a turn of the doorknob.

"Jihoon?"

The voice is as timid as the knocking was, and is one he hasn't heard in a while.

"Yeah?" Jihoon replies, making sure to keep his lips stationary so that his viewers can't see that he's talking to someone.

All of a sudden, Daehwi has Jihoon in a headlock and he's struggling for air as his face is buried in his fluffy sweatshirt.

"I'm so sorry for being so selfish and making you do all that without taking your feelings into consideration," he wails, continuing to cradle Jihoon in his arms as the latter struggles to push him away.

"Daehwi, wait—I'm," the older gags, "I'm streami—oomph!"

"It's okay! It doesn't matter anymore!" Daehwi tightens his hold on Jihoon, who now sounds like he's actually choking. "You don't have to force yourself to stream anymore. I'll love you regardless of whether you're making money for us or not!"

As Daehwi continues to babble his apologies and professions of love, Jihoon slams a hand out onto his desk, darting for his mouse so he can end the stream before things seriously get out of hand. He eventually feels the familiar texture of plastic on his fingers and struggles one side of his head out of Daehwi's arms to move the cursor to the _Stop Streaming_ button on his monitor.

Once the blinking red light on his camera turns off, Jihoon relaxes into his housemate's embrace and pats his back reassuringly as he continues to listen to his rambling.

"—and I'm so sorry for spilling that drink on you on purpose. I don't know what I was thinking, I was just excited to know that someone we sort of know watches your streams and I felt so happy for you! But you don't have to go along with everything I suggest you know, I know you do it because you're soft on me but you don't have to have to try to be friends with Daniel anymore—"

"Yeah, about that..." muffles Jihoon against his chest.

That finally gets Daehwi to loosen his hold on Jihoon. "What? What happened while we weren't talking?"

"We're kind of friends now? We hung out together a few times last week for like movies and lunch..."

"What the hell? You guys went on _dates_ —plural, at that—and you didn't tell me _anything_ about it?" Daehwi almost shrieks.

Jihoon frowns and cries back, "Well we weren't exactly on talking terms and you weren't even home the past two weeks!"

"You should know by now how I won't go home when I get stressed out about anyone who lives in it! And I can't _believe_ you didn't deny they were dates, oh my god. You two were supposed to be _friends_ , not dating!"

" _CAN YOU GUYS STOP YELLING AT EACH OTHER AND GET YOUR ASSES HERE?!"_

Their attention now shifted to the boisterous voice, Daehwi and Jihoon give each other puzzled looks before they let go of each other and head towards its source: Woojin's room.

"Not dating by the way," Jihoon mutters belatedly once they both take a seat on the edge of Woojin's bed.

"Not _yet_ , maybe."

Woojin clears his throat obnoxiously to get the two to stop quibbling. "I'm calling an emergency Housemates Association Meeting. First of all, glad you two finally made up, but in the process of doing so you also fucked shit up," he says, turning his laptop around to face them.

On the screen is the comment section of Jihoon's most recent stream that got cut off shortly after Daehwi's entrance, flowing with swears at Jihoon and messages about how they're disappointed with his actions on live camera. They seem to be misinterpreting their reconciliation as an intimate and affectionate moment between a couple.

Jihoon reads a comment in passing that says, ' _if he wants to date he shouldn't do it while he's streaming when everyone's watching him wtf_ ', and he can't help but roll his eyes.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, Jihoon. I was being careless."

"Whatever, things like this will die down eventually," Jihoon shrugs. "Or maybe it's time I quit streaming altogether. That, or it's my calling to move on to greater things. Like being a League streamer."

"Too bad the League community is toxic as shit to anyone who sucks dick at the game, like you," Woojin spits out in triumph as Jihoon gives him a glare. "Ah, by the way, Kang Daniel was watching the stream too." He swivels his laptop screen back to himself and scrolls up for a bit before he turns it back to the two.

 

 **_realdefdanik:_ ** _lmaoooo y'all talking like any of us had a chance with him_

 **_realdefdanik:_ ** _jeojangman i'll always support you!!!! and your love life!!!!!! until the end of the world!!!!!!!11_

 **_realdefdanik:_ ** _go out there and get that love you deserve (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧_

 

There's a tug on Jihoon's lips with each new comment he reads from Daniel. They're filled with the same words of support and encouragement from his other viewers, but Jihoon can't help but feel a little happier when he's the one sending them.

"Oh my god, that's so sweet of him," squeals Daehwi. He turns to Jihoon. "But at the same time, shit, because now he thinks we're dating. Should I tell him we're not? It _is_ my fault after all."

Jihoon clutches Daehwi's hand before he can get wild with his plans again. "No, because I'm not dating him. And," he bites his lip, "he still doesn't know that I know he watches my streams."

"Are you serious." Daehwi slaps the older's hand away and jumps out of the bed. "You're a fool if you think things are going to end well if you don't tell him you know as soon as possible."

"Can you two please stop fighting over Kang Daniel?"

"Woojin can you stop saying things that sound weird out of context?"

"Jihoon can you stop being an idiot and tell him before it's too late!"

Jihoon hums as he shifts his eyes back to screen that's still flowing with negative comments. "What's the worst that could happen anyway?"

Daehwi releases an exasperated groan that he didn't know could come out of such a tiny body. "That's not my _point_. You and Daniel obviously don't trust each other since the both of you are keeping your mouths shut, and nothing good can come out of a relationship like that."

Putting on his best puppy eyes, Jihoon now looks at Woojin for support.

"Sorry man, the boy's got a point. Better sooner than later, no?"

Two against one again; though Jihoon shouldn't have expected anything from Woojin since he always takes Daehwi's side. They both have a soft spot for him, though, so Jihoon ends up backing down too.

"Fine, I'll do it."

 

 

 

 

 

The thought of having to come clean to Daniel is always in the back of Jihoon's mind, and he swears he tries his best to do it. He really does.

But how exactly is he supposed to bring it up in their conversations about games and dumb jokes? ' _By the way I know you're a regular on my streams and I've read your comments praising my looks sorry I'm only telling you now please don't think I'm an ass_ '?

"Jihoon."

He would probably laugh it off after Jihoon breaks the news to him because that's just how he is. But what if he gets pissed instead? Jihoon practically deceived him into thinking he's oblivious, so that reaction shouldn't be beyond him.

" _Jihoon_."

Snapping out of his thoughts, Jihoon raises his head to see Daniel staring at him with a concerned look in his eyes.

"You okay?" he asks worriedly. "You've been spacing out a lot lately."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just thinking about... things," Jihoon finishes off weakly.

They're sitting at a table in the cafe, Jihoon with his current obsession, the Peaches and Cream drink, and Daniel on the usual break he takes during his shifts.

Before Daniel can get a word out of his mouth, a familiar jingle at the entrance distracts the both of them and Jihoon recognises the new customer in an instant.

"Daehwi?"

Having heard his name being called out, Daehwi turns in their general direction, his expression quickly morphing from mildly confused at seeing Jihoon to overly thrilled once he also sees Daniel at the same table. "Jihoon!"

"I thought you had class," Jihoon comments once Daehwi bounds up to their table.

"Got cancelled. Apparently the professor's taking medicine for bacteria in his stomach but it's killing _all_ the bacteria so now he doesn't have the ones he needs to break food down," explains Daehwi. "But anyway, how are _you_ doing, hm?"

The younger gives Jihoon a pointed look, and the latter immediately figures out that he's talking about his process on coming clean to Daniel.

"Um."

Forgetting that they aren't the only ones at the table, Jihoon and Daehwi turn their heads to a fidgety Daniel with his eyes darting between the two of them.

"You can sit here if you want," says Daniel, giving Daehwi a friendly gesture towards his seat. "I'm just about to go back to—"

"Oh, no, no, no, you can stay. I'm not here to see _Jihoon_ , I'm here to see my _boyfriend_."

Daniel pauses for a moment as he processes the disconnect between the two words. "Boyfriend?"

"I think you know him actually! His name is Jinyoung. Anyway, I'll be taking my leave now, didn't mean to disturb you guys." Daehwi sends Jihoon a furtive wink before going back to make his order.

To be honest, mentioning anything about his boyfriend was completely unnecessary, but Jihoon has to admit that that was very smooth of Daehwi.

"Huh," Daniel mumbles to himself, confusion still apparent on his face.

"What, were you being considerate because you thought I was dating Daehwi?" Jihoon grins. "How sweet of you."

"Thanks, I get that a lot," replies Daniel nonchalantly. "So am I right in assuming you're totally single right now? You know, just asking before I try being considerate again."

Jihoon rolls his eyes and before he can respond with a quip, someone else decides to go up to their table and interrupt their conversation once _again_.

"Jihoon! Long time no see!" Jinyoung exclaims. He momentarily stops when he sees Daniel sitting across Jihoon, much like how Daehwi did too.

"Hey," Jihoon says, "I think Daehwi went somewhere over there..."

"I know, just wanted to say hi." He greets Daniel too before turning back to Jihoon. "I guess you two finally stopped fighting, which is great—he was getting really stressed out about it."

Jihoon cracks a smile when he recalls never seeing Daehwi at home for a while. "Yeah, I could tell. Was he at your place the whole time?"

"Yeah, he was." Something seems to come to mind then because Jinyoung's expression suddenly shifts to worry. "Ah, I heard from Daehwi by the way. You're going to quit streaming?"

The smile on Jihoon's face falls as he stares in disbelief at Jinyoung who so easily mentions the one thing he has been struggling to bring up in a conversation for a while now. Did he really just—

"You're _quitting_?"

The shock of Jihoon supposedly quitting must have made Daniel forget that he was keeping a secret. The tone of his voice makes it evident that he is distraught—heartbroken, even—to the point that anyone listening in would think Jihoon is quitting his dream job that pays a six-figure salary.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot that Daniel is a dedicated viewer of your stream. Such a shame, honestly," Jinyoung offers sadly.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, this was not how the reveal was supposed to go—at least not by having an unrelated person spilling the beans for them. At this point, all the colour is gone from Daniel's face and Jihoon can feel his own palms getting clammy, because how the hell is he going to explain everything now?

No one says anything for a few seconds, and so Jinyoung, sensing the strange change in mood after his arrival, lets out an awkward cough. "Um, I guess I'll be going now. It was nice seeing you two," he stammers before leaving their table.

The two remain silent after Jinyoung's departure as they struggle to form explanations.

"I'm—"

"I—"

They start and stop at the same time, both startled at the other's voice.

"I think I should go first," mumbles Jihoon, to which Daniel nods quietly.

It's going to be hard interrupting Daniel if he confesses that he watches and leaves comments on his stream and Jihoon has to explain he already knows that. Unless it turns out that Daniel knows that Jihoon knows that he does that, in which case it'll be even more complicated.

But whatever, he wants to get it over and done with now. So he takes one deep breath and just says the few simple words that were so hard for him to say:

"I know you watch my streams. Sorry I pretended not to know."

Daniel pauses and looks at Jihoon blankly. "Wait, are you serious? Oh my god." He drops his head to his hands, and although shock is registered all over his face, Jihoon still can't gauge how he feels about his confession.

"I'm really sorry I kept it a secret. I honestly don't have any excuses."

"Wait," Daniel says, clearly still having a mental breakdown. "Does that mean you've seen my comments too?"

"Y-yes." Having to admit that makes him feel all the more shameful.

"Oh my god. Even the," he gulps, "even the hate comments?"

"What?" Jihoon's jaw drops. "You sent me _hate_ comments?"

"Huh? N-no, I didn't. I was kidding."

Daniel attempts to bring out a laugh, but is stopped immediately by the deadpan look Jihoon gives him.

"Okay, I wasn't kidding. I thought you said you read my comments!"

"I didn't read _all_ of them. Woojin and Daehwi are the ones who tell me about everyone's comments and they don't read me any hate. So, no, I had no idea you sent me any because they only ever told me about the nice ones."

So this is why he kept quiet about his streams. Fuck, now Jihoon is wondering if Woojin and Daehwi knew about this and deliberately chose not to tell him, those little shits.

"I swear to god I don't send you hate anymore. Really, trust me," says Daniel as he looks at Jihoon with pleading eyes.

"That's kind of hard right now." He pushes the drink on their table away from him now that he's lost his appetite.

Daniel sending him hate comments? Jihoon can't help but be disappointed, especially because he's already built up such a nice image of him in his head after all the sweet comments and the cute personality.

"Okay, fair enough, but hear my side of the story first?" Daniel pleads again.

Jihoon narrows his eyes at him. "Fine."

"Well, when I first saw your streams I thought to myself—and please don't kill me for this, I just want to be completely honest to you from now on—what the hell, people would actually watch some pretty boy sitting there for hours doing nothing? So being the ass I am, I started going to your streams and started writing... you know..." Daniel scratches the back of his neck awkwardly. "This will sound like an excuse for my stupidity and I know you won't believe me but really, they weren't anything _that_ bad."

Jihoon raises an eyebrow.

"But then you came into the cafe one day and I recognised you immediately and my heart started doing somersaults when even _I_ don't know how to do somersaults. At first I thought it was because I was scared you'd recognise me too, but then I realised later it was because I kind of, um, fell in love with you at first sight? Which technically isn't the right term since it wasn't the first time I saw you but—"

"What," Jihoon interrupts him, "did you say?"

"I-I fell in love with you? God, it sounds so dumb but you looked so cute in that yellow hoodie and with your mismatched laces and after hearing your voice for the first time I really... started seeing you differently." He lets out a small whine. "That was when I started to send nice comments, and after that we started to get to know each other after the strawberry frappe incident and then I started liking you a lot more and got too scared to admit—" he cuts himself short, casting his eyes down as he bows his head. "Anyway, I'm really, _really_ , reallyreallyreally sorry for writing hate comments. I'll do anything to make up for it, so please forgive me?"

Jihoon thinks about all the flags Daniel raised indicating he thought more of him than a standard friend: all the drinks and meals he treated him; the way he laughs at everything he says; the convenient breaks he takes when he decides to stop by the cafe; and the hugs they share when they go home for the day. Everything makes sense now and he would have sighed in relief had it not been for the one caveat that he sent hate.

Jihoon doesn't know exactly how to feel about it yet.

"I'll forgive you," he finally says, and upon Daniel's quickly brightening expression he hastily adds, "eventually. I don't know—just give me some time. There's a lot to process and I don't want to say anything rash."

"Okay, yeah, sure. Makes sense."

Jihoon hates that silence between them feels awkward now.

"Are you mad at me for not telling you I knew?"

"A little," admits Daniel, letting out a low laugh. "But I forgive you for that."

The younger gives him a small smile in thanks and watches as Daniel gets up from his seat.

"I think I should get back to my shift, you know, before they fire me for taking too many breaks. Seongwoo's been glaring in our direction for a while now." He pauses in motion, then asks Jihoon nervously, "You won't block my number or anything right?"

Jihoon lets out a soft chuckle, feeling the mild tension between them disappear. "Do you really think I'd do that? I promise I'll text you, okay?"

"I'll be waiting then." He stands still for a few seconds, just looking at Jihoon, before he spreads his arms out carefully towards him. "I'll see you soon?"

Jihoon nods back as he gets out of his seat to accept Daniel's hug, breathing in his scent and feeling as comfortable in his arms as ever.

 

 

 

 

 

"You little _shit_."

"Oh hey, I'm doing great on this beautiful day, just a little stressed about my group project since everyone's ghosting me, thanks for asking. How about you?"

"I can't believe you never told me about Daniel's hate comments," Jihoon barks as soon as he slams Woojin's bedroom door shut.

"Who told you about that?"

"The man himself."

" _He_ did? Wow, I can't believe he dug his own grave." Woojin crosses his legs on his swivel chair and spins around on it as he watches Jihoon stomp his way to him. "But I told you, didn't I? We need to keep you happy."

"What, because I make money for you?"

"No, you idiot," Woojin pushes himself away from his desk annoyedly, "because you're my best friend and I know how much you like this guy and I didn't see why I had to tell you about what he did in the past when he doesn't do it anymore."

"Even if it involved shit-talking me?" retorts Jihoon, though the edge in his voice becomes softer after Woojin says that.

"Boy, I'm guessing you don't even know what he wrote. Did you fight with him?"

"Not really, it's just—" Jihoon sighs, flopping onto Woojin's bed, "I was caught off guard because I thought _I_ was the one that had more to spill."

"So basically you're mad because you didn't have the upper hand in the conversation." He earns a punch to his stomach from Jihoon. "For real though, I thought you'd find it funny how he used to send you hate comments."

"I mean, I do. After I calmed down, I was just thinking... I was literally minding my own business with my streams? Did he really have nothing else to do?" Jihoon scoffs. Though that's not the only reason why he thinks it's funny: there's that, and then there's also how Daniel apparently ended up falling for him.

Woojin snorts in return. "You'd be surprised, kid. So why are you in my room whining about all of this if you don't have any hard feelings for the guy?"

Jihoon pauses. He could have shrugged it off when Daniel confessed, but he didn't. Something had already started to itch at the back of his mind when he first admitted to the hate comments, and he needed to think about it.

"I don't know."

"Then get your ass out of here and go make up with your ex-anti-fan!" Woojin screeches, reaching for his housemate's ankles to yank him off his bed.

They struggle in their squabble for a while as Jihoon parks his weight on his upper body and uses all his strength to throw kicks at Woojin so that he'd let him go, but his death grip on his ankles—which is sure to leave red marks behind at this point—is merciless.

"Let go, dumbass! I'll explain, I'll explain!"

There's a smug smirk on Woojin's face as he lets his feet drop to the floor, and Jihoon would try kicking it off if he didn't just experience his terror.

Releasing a loud sigh to let his housemate know he's done with his antics, Jihoon sits up at the edge of his bed. "Do you think he feels bad about what he did?"

"Obviously, yeah."

"Then do you think he's only being nice now because he feels bad about what he did?"

"The fuck am I supposed to know? Okay, okay, I'm kidding, you can stop making that face now. Honestly, I don't know man. You should know better than me; you actually hang out with the guy and talk to him and shit, I just know him through his comments and—"

"He said he fell in love with me at first sight."

"—shit like that and, WHAT?" Woojin does a double take, seizing Jihoon's shoulders with his infamous grip again which makes him wince. "Why the _fuck_ are we having this conversation then?"

"Because maybe he's confusing guilt for _that_ emotion," explains Jihoon, wrestling himself out of Woojin's hold. "Maybe he's only being nice to redeem himself for what he did."

Even Jihoon realises he's whining about a scenario that only insecure people with low self-esteem can conceive—but well, he's exactly that. It has always been slightly alarming how friendly and affectionate Daniel would be with him (all the hugs? The calls and texts? The invitations to go out?), but if these tendencies could be attributed to guilt, it would make a lot more sense to Jihoon than if they were to be attributed to romantic feelings.

"My god, you are _so_ annoying. Why don't you take his word for it instead of overthinking everything like you always do?"

"I _know_ ," Jihoon grits his teeth. "It's not like I enjoy overthinking either, that's why I'm confiding in _you_ to rationalise for me."

"Alright, Mr I-hang-out-with-Kang-Daniel-way-more-often-than-with-my-best-friend-these-days-yet-I-still-don't-know-his-true-feelings. You might be right about him acting this way because he feels guilty, and like I said, you should know better than me." Woojin paces back and forth in front of Jihoon and then stops in his tracks to point an accusatory finger at him. "But I don't think any anti-fan would go _so_ out of their way to please someone they used to hate on, unless it's _purely_ for self-satisfaction, and I think you're smart enough to realise when someone's being fake by now."

Memories of the many times his high school 'friends' have used him for his looks and popularity flash by in Jihoon's mind. "Gee, thanks for reminding me of those shitheads."

"I only did it because I love you." Woojin bats his eyelashes playfully at him.

"Yeah, not feeling any butterflies, sorry."

"Of course not, they're all saved for your ex-hater Kang Daniel, aren't they?"

That makes Jihoon shut up at once.

"So was that rational enough for you?" asks Woojin, now looking at Jihoon with belated concern on his face.

Jihoon springs out of Woojin's bed and checks his phone. No new messages, which is unusual considering he always expects at least one from Daniel when he picks it up, but he's probably waiting for him to text first. "Could use a little more logic and proof, but other than that, good enough for now."

"As someone who's terrible at philosophy, I'm honoured," says Woojin as he smacks Jihoon's back a few times for encouragement. "And just so you know, I've read his comments before and they really weren't bad enough to warrant him feeling the need to make up for it to this extent. I think he's being genuine, Jihoon."

The (now absurd) thought of Daniel being anything otherwise brings a smile to Jihoon's face.

 

 

 

 

 

Several days after they last saw each other at the cafe, Jihoon sends Daniel a text to meet up.

Although he had already made up his mind about what to do with the barista slash fan slash ex-anti-fan a while ago, Jihoon had completely forgotten about sending him a message, which isn't surprising considering his bad texter penchant. It clearly didn't help that Daniel hadn't sent him any texts during this time either, and it was only when Woojin asked if there was a follow-up to his dilemma that he realised he still had to tie up loose ends.

Now Jihoon is sitting on a bench across the street to the coffee shop, the sunlight filtering through the leaves of the trees and warming his face as he waits for Daniel to finish his afternoon shift. He sees figures through the glass walls, and sometimes he catches sight of Daniel while he's manning the register, giving his signature smile to customers and looking as cheerful as ever on a hot day like today. But of course, the older can't feel it right now because there's air-conditioning inside.

Meanwhile, beads of sweat start to form on Jihoon's temples. He's been sitting here for too long.

The reflecting light on the cafe's door catches his eye and the same sunny Daniel is looking uneasy as he stumbles on his own feet when he leaves the cafe, almost dropping something he's holding in the process. He quickly regains his balance and spots Jihoon watching him a close distance away.

"Hey," Daniel breathes after he jogs across the road. He holds out the drink in his hand to Jihoon. "For you."

Jihoon accepts the familiar creamy pink and orange drink, their fingers brushing against each other slightly. "Thanks."

The wooden planks clatter as Daniel drops onto the bench, and they both say nothing for a while, watching people and cars pass by as Jihoon concentrates on the coolness of his drink.

Daniel is the first one to speak up.

"I was one hundred percent convinced you wouldn't talk to me anymore."

Jihoon puts the drink to the side as he cracks a smile. "After I already promised I'd text you?"

"I can't help it!" exclaims Daniel. "I didn't get a text from you for _days_. I thought you cut me off completely because you were mad at me."

"I was never mad, just disappointed." Turning to the older, Jihoon continues, "But now I just find the whole thing funny. Like, really? _You_ of all people?"

"I'm sorry," wails Daniel as he grabs onto Jihoon's shoulder. "If I could go back to the past and change things, I swear I would."

"It's fine," he reassures him. "But there's still something else I need to make sure of, though."

Jihoon's smile disappears into an unreadable expression under the brilliance of the sunlight as he gingerly curls one hand around Daniel's wrist and raises the other carefully to his cheek. His skin feels a little cold from the air conditioning of the cafe, but it quickly grows warm under his touch.

Daniel turns into stone immediately and the way his Adam's apple bobs up and down slowly when he continues to stare at him without making any move doesn't go by unnoticed by Jihoon either.

Focusing his attention on his hold on Daniel's wrist and his eyes (which proves to be difficult given how much they're shaking), Jihoon puts on a frown.

"Hm," he sounds, unravelling himself from Daniel. "Hmm."

The older blinks at him in confusion at the loss of contact, clearly not understanding what is happening. "W-what?"

"Your pupils—they didn't dilate. Your pulse seemed normal too," Jihoon explains, finding it difficult to maintain neutrality when Daniel's face looks so funny. "You know, signs of love?"

Daniel stares at him, mouth open in incredulity. "Park Jihoon, you fucking tease. Is this your way of getting back at me?"

The younger looks back at him in offence. "What? I _genuinely_ didn't know if you were actually serious about having falling in love with me or not."

"Are you—" Daniel runs a hand across his face with an exasperated sigh. "So you thought it was a good idea to check my _pupils_ and my _pulse_ to see if I was serious? I swear to god if you weren't—"

"Wow, I think this is the first time I've ever seen you get mad at me. Is this how you're going to be like now that you have nothing else to hide?"

"You little brat—"

Being the one with faster reflexes, Jihoon jumps off the bench first and dashes to the other side before Daniel can grab hold of him. He starts to laugh aloud at the older's annoyed facial expression while he chases after him around the bench, acting like they're children at a school playground when they're supposed to be responsible university students with (part-time) jobs. Once Jihoon points this out between his giggles, Daniel ends up bursting into a fit of laughter as well and yet they still continue with their game of cat and mouse.

Eventually, Jihoon gets exhausted from expending his energy on laughing too hard and trying to run away at the same time, and the moment he slows down, Daniel has him captured in a tight embrace around his waist.

"Let go, it's _hot_ ," complains Jihoon as he struggles to find the strength to push him away.

Daniel complies accordingly, loosening his hold on the younger but still having him in his arms. He looks down at him fondly, and for a moment there, Jihoon thinks he'll lean in and kiss him.

He speaks up once the butterflies in his stomach become a little too suffocating. "What?"

"Nothing," replies Daniel, snapping out of his dazed look and raising his eyebrow. "You were streaming the other day."

"I was."

"I thought you said you were going to quit."

"Ah, that was just something I said in passing to Daehwi. I didn't really mean it. I _did_ have thoughts of quitting before that, but..." Jihoon trails off, looking up at Daniel. "I changed my mind."

The older releases an elated chuckle as he brings the younger closer. "Good. That means I can still take screenshots of you, then."

Jihoon almost chokes on his own spit. "You—you take _what_?" he splutters. He imagines Daniel faithfully taking screenshots during every stream and saving them into a folder called ' _JeojangMan ♥_ ', organising its subfolders by date. "Nevermind, I changed my mind again—I'm going to quit."

"What, _why_? You're the one broadcasting your face for the whole world to see!" exclaims Daniel.

"I know, but it's weird knowing _you_ do it! If you're going to keep taking screencaps at least ask me for permission first," Jihoon huffs, then continues to say without thinking, "or if you really like my face that much, you can ask me and I can send you pictures too."

Realising belatedly what he said after Daniel gives him a stunned look, Jihoon feels his cheeks going red and quickly angles his head down so the older can't see it.

"Really? You'd... actually do that?"

If it was any other person, Jihoon would definitely say no. "Maybe. Probably."

"Why _would_ you?"

"I'm not sure," Jihoon replies, smirking to himself at the disbelief in the older's voice. He raises his head to meet eyes with Daniel bashfully. "I think it's because I like seeing you happy."

Just like Jihoon predicted, a huge grin grows on Daniel's face and he thinks it's the brightest one he's ever seen on him yet. He fully expects the older to tease him for being honest with his feelings, but instead he only pulls Jihoon closer as he watches him struggle with the embarrassment that comes along with sharing his emotions.

"I'd be a lot happier if we went out on dates though," Daniel says once the younger can look at him straight in the eyes again, "only a suggestion for your next plan to make me happy."

Resisting the urge to sigh in annoyance, Jihoon replies, "I was actually going to ask you out after we were done here but since you're okay with it being the next plan I guess—"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" Daniel interrupts him in a panic and tightens his hold. "Please go out with me. No, I mean, let's go out."

Jihoon takes a good look at the barista for the first time that day, whose eyebrows are still drawn together despite the fact that he should already know what the younger's reply will be. The light that sifts through the leaves above them only serves to make Daniel's skin shimmer in a way he can't tear his eyes away, and it's only then that Jihoon remembers he's melting in this weather and is still being hugged by an anti-turned-fan he's come to care about.

Jihoon unconsciously nods in agreement, and Daniel gives him a smile—the same, formulaic Daniel one, with his eyes disappearing into crescents, his teeth peeking out when the corners of his lips reach his ears, his facial features making it seem like he's shining, and yet Jihoon will look at it like it's all new to him every time.

And maybe, just maybe, Jihoon begins to understand why people would want to watch someone for hours on end.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I had a lot of fun writing this and I hope you enjoyed it too!
> 
> Thank you for reading ♥  
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/himarisuu)  
> [CuriousCat](https://curiouscat.me/himarisu)


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